Conventional houseboats are manufactured with an integrated engine or motor for enabling movement of the houseboat on the water. However, many houseboat owners frequently choose to remain at the dock for a majority of the boating season, rarely if ever taking the houseboat out on open water. Yet the engine or motor represents a significant portion of the overall cost of a houseboat. Therefore, in some instances, it may be desirable to provide a pod system for a houseboat assembly.
The pod system may comprise a pod slot defined by the houseboat assembly and sized to selectively receive either a first pod or a second pod therein, as determined by the immediate need of the user. The first pod may be considered a “placeholder pod” type of element, configured to fill the void of the pod slot and prevent a user from falling into the empty pod slot. The second pod may be considered an “movement pod” type of element. The movement pod may include an engine or motor and may be controlled by a helm on the houseboat assembly. The movement pod may be rented or otherwise temporarily obtained by the houseboat assembly owner for use in moving the houseboat assembly as desired and thereafter returned to the proper owner of the movement pod. The placeholder pod may be free of an engine and motor and may be used to complete the profile of the hull and cabin assembly and “fill in” the pod slot when an engine is not needed. Inasmuch as the placeholder pod does not include an engine or motor, the placeholder pod is significantly less expensive than the movement pod. This allows the user to purchase a houseboat assembly and a placeholder pod and realize a significant cost savings. On the rare occasions where the houseboat assembly owner desires to move the houseboat assembly away from the dock and into open water, the user may simply rent or borrow an movement pod and swap the movement pod for the placeholder pod for this short time or until no longer desired.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.